Mohan Bhagwat pitches for societal unity

Pune: India is the traditional motherland of Hindu community, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat said yesterday as he pitched for societal unity where character is valued.

"Even though the languages are different, regions are different, creeds are different, culture of all is same. Entire world recognizes it as Hindu culture. And therefore, our community is recognised as Hindu community. This is the traditional mother land of Hindu community," he said addressing an RSS rally near Pune.

He stressed on the need for unity in the society which would strengthen India as a nation.

"Dr (B R) Ambedkar had said that through the Constitution we managed to ensure political equality, but this political unity can not be sustainable until we achieve economic and societal unity.

"History of our country has been such that none of our rivals won here on his own, but due to differences amongst us. Hence, if we don't forget our differences, then the Constitution won't be able to safeguard us. Therefore, he stressed on creating a society which is rich in character and affectionate towards its people," he said addressing the 'Shiv Shakti Samagam', considered one of the largest RSS congregations.

India, he said, needed to make itself stronger for its voice to be heard in the world.

"Shiva and Shakti (strength) should come together. Our society recognizes Shiva, but world recognises strength. Without strength, truth does not hold value it seems. We see wrongdoings of powerful nations are not objected to and the good things done by weaker nations are not valued. Indian culture is being talked about across the world. It was there earlier too. But it was not valued then," he said.

Bhagwat cited the example of Rabindranath Tagore in Japan where his speech got a lukewarm response because he was from a slave country.

"Truth was not honoured because the country from where the truth was told was considered weak. It was a slave. After we achieved independence, the value of the truth increased a bit. It increased furthermore after winning wars. It happened again when we became a nuclear nation.

"When people here protected republic, it increased again. Today, the condition is such that the yoga-related proposal was cleared in the UN without much discussion. It is discussed everywhere. The more powerful your nation becomes, value of its truth increases, too. Hence, we need strength," he said.

The RSS chief said Israel stood tall with pride due to its "resolve" and added,"a society which cares for its people, has affection for them, even if it lacks resources, is smaller in size, still it is able to achieve its goal".

Bhagwat said there should be no room for inequality or discrimination as "a divided society will fail".

Referring to Ambedkar, Bhagwat said he took Constitutional measures to ensure societal equality, "but law and order cannot bring equality; the inequality has to be wiped out of our minds".

K B Hedgewar, the founding chief of RSS, Bhagwat said, worked all his life for empowerment of the nation.

"He kept welfare of the nation ahead of everything. He took part in all the movements. Hedgewar was jailed (for participating) in freedom struggle under Congress before formation of RSS," he said.

"Hedgewar accepted diversities of the country. He tied all in one thread that is Hindutva," Bhagwat said.

Bhagwat said acceptance of diversity was needed to achieve social unity and strength to make the country strong.

"Accept diversity. Look at all with equanimity and affection. Get rid of disparities and the sense of superiority and inferiority. This will lead to a social unity and ultimately to a country's strength," he said, addressing a massive rally of RSS swayamsevaks drawn from Western Maharashtra region.

Asserting that strength should be accompanied by character, Bhagwat said RSS was committed to the values of service and sacrifice. "A nation is not run by government and leaders. It's the responsibility of people to ensure that leaders and government behave properly," he said.

"Sanatan dharma is the basic value of Hindutva and irrespective of class, creed and language, the culture of Hindu society is the same," he added.Over one lakh RSS activists converged at the venue 'Shiv Shakti Sangam', about 20 km from the city.

Earlier, Bhagwat inspected the traditional drill by Swayamsevaks, moving in a jeep at the sprawling ground where songs and the Sangh prayer were sung by the mammoth gathering.

Regular policemen appeared to have taken a backseat as RSS activists directed the traffic. An unending flow of vehicles caused long queues and traffic jams.

Those present included Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Union Minister Prakash Javadekar who turned out in RSS uniform.